Give It Up

It is the natural inclination of a person to always want to "fix" things, and do so themselves.  The idea of giving up is not really in our nature.  What do the scriptures say?


I Peter 5:5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.
11 To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.


There are a couple things to note here.  One is that there is no promise here of an instant fix, or some sort of miracle as you would think of wanting.   When we humble ourselves and cast our cares upon Him, the promise is that in DUE TIME we may be exalted.  Part of humbling ourselves would be to trust that God knows the DUE TIME and to not fret about those cares.  Our adversary would love to get us all caught up in worry about things of the world and steal away our peace, joy, love, and witness.  We can resist those temptations knowing that even though we do suffer for a while, we will be made perfect, established, strong, and settled.


Jesus says in Mathew 11:
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.


Jesus here hands out an invitation to those who are overcome with the cares of this world and the problems they present.  He says to look to Him, not necessarily to solve all the problems you are worrying about, but that instead of being so stressed about them, so burdened by them, so overwhelmed; you will find rest in Him and through Him.  If we look to Jesus and learn of Him instead of focusing on our problems, we are promised rest for our souls. 


When we take upon the yoke of Jesus, He is leading us.  His ways lead us to peace and rest within our souls, even though all around us chaos may reign.  Through Him we find rest instead of weariness, hope instead of heartbreak, peace instead of tumult, love instead of anger, caring instead of hostility.  He leads us to those good things if we humble ourselves and take His yoke upon us.  Then we need not worry about the other stuff.  Yes, we still have to do things, and bad things will still happen, but we will no longer let those things overwhelm us, or take our focus.  We will remain in peace if we keep our eyes on Jesus.

When the Going Gets Tough

Have you ever gotten mad at God?  There are times where things just don't seem to fit together like you thought, or you did not get the answer from Him you expected, and life just is not going at all smoothly.  I'm not talking about something superficial like you didn't get that new car you asked for.  I'm talking about gut wrenching issues, agonizing hurt, after long periods of time pleading.  Something that just makes you drop to your knees and scream, Why Lord?

You may be wondering, why Lord. why do the evil succeed?  Why do they get away with it?  How long, oh Lord, must I deal with this or that situation?  Why is it that I never seem to come out on top, Lord?  Why is it that I have been alone so long waiting?  Have you not heard me?  Can't you see that I am hurting?  Why have you not delivered me? 

I think many of us get to these desperate heart aching points in our walk where we just cannot see or understand the plan God is working in or through us.  Times where we almost can't find any words to express the anguish that we are feeling or the desperation that we are experiencing.  What are we supposed to do?  How are we to carry on when it just seems like the world is falling in on top of us and the bottom has dropped away?

I've been facing such situations recently, so as much as this is sharing with others, it is also a little therapy for myself here.  All those types of questions are swirling around in my head, and I am asking and pleading, wondering when is it going to end?  What am I supposed to do?

I got a word before the intensity of the situation I am in ramped up several hundred degrees. 

Galatians 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

When we are upset and troubled, even wounded deeply to our core, we still need to carry on in a way that is pleasing to God.  He made a promise to us in that verse.  We can't let our pain become so great that we begin hurting others.  We need to keep our focus on God and doing what is right, treating others as we ourselves want to be treated, doing our jobs to the best of our ability, being honest, not being a gossiper, etc etc...  If we do those things, we have a harvest coming.  We might not know when it is or how it is, but we can rest assured that it will come when it is ripe and ready and perfect for us.

I wish I could say that I have been a perfect soldier in this, but really, it is kind of a hard thing to do.  We are hurt and upset and do some things that don't necessarily help, or think we can do something about it and forget that God is the one in control.  We can get caught up in our emotions and reap some consequences we'd rather not.  That is the hard part about the "faint not" in that verse.    We can make things worse when we get like, I got this God.

I think that when we get past the initial "WHY GOD WHY?", we can settle back and look to the word for the practical applications of "how, Lord, how?"  Maybe God will bring some useful verse to remembrance like He did for me with the above verse, or we may stumble upon a teacher on the radio or TV that has a message that speaks to our situation, and we should of course look through the word and meditate upon what it says.  The instructions on what to do can be found there.

Another hard thing that we should be learning to do in tough situations is learning to trust God even more.  It is all well and good to trust God when things are going well, but when things happen and appear to be at their worst, that is when we really need to knuckle down with some serious faith and determined faith that says, despite what I am seeing and feeling, I know that that harvest is out there getting ripe and I have no doubt that if I do as the word says, the blessing is promised to me by God, and God keeps ALL his promises.

Standing In The Gap

The last few weeks have been really tough.  They really have not been terribly tough on what is going on with me personally, but it seems like recently those that are around me are suffering from a myriad of personal crises', some of which are deserving of the personal foul flag for piling on.  Because I care about the people in my life, I am invested into their lives and care about what happens to them.  The biggest frustrations seems to be not being able to do very much about things.  I want to help but I can't in the way that I would like to.


There was a phrase that I learned a long time ago, both by just hearing about it, and by practical application.  The term was 'standing in the gap'.  What I have always understood the term to mean was that an individual would be able to help another through doing things for the person that they may not be able to do for themselves, or taking part of the heat for them to lessen their burdens, or another way was to spiritually breach a gap for them. 


The idea of standing in the gap comes generally from Ezekiel 22:30 And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.  The previous verse shows that the condition of Israel had gone downhill and the people were acting wickedly.  The idea of seeking one to stand in the gap was to say that one could plead for the people to God.  Someone to stand as an intermediary and plead for mercy from God on behalf of the people.  This same idea can be brought to an individual level as well where some righteous person would plead to god on behalf of others.  I guess some would call this intercessory prayer.


One example of this might be when Abraham was pleading with God over Sodom and Gomorrah, knowing that Lot and his family were there.  Abraham pleaded to spare the place for the righteous folks sake.  Unfortunately for the city, Lot and his immediate family did not add up to enough.  But this was a case where Abraham kind of stood in the gap for Lot and family, as well as any other righteous folks that may have been there.


Sometimes standing in the gap for another may put yourself on the line.  Jesus tells us that no greater love does a man have than to lay down his life for his friends.  Sometimes, we have to put ourselves out there to protect friends, family, fellow believers.  It could require literally jumping into the middle of a fight, or placing yourself in harms way to protect another.  Again we can look to Abraham and Lot for this also when Lot was captured and Abraham got his band together to go take out Lots captors and rescue Lot.


There are times too when standing in the gap can be purely spiritual.  You pray and pray hard for lost loved ones and friends, asking God to intervene in their lives and open their eyes to accept Jesus Christ.  Daniel 10:11-13 gives us some insight into this.  We see how when Daniel prayed, the prayer was immediately heard and responded to, but it took 21 days for the angels to fight their way past the demons to accomplish the prayer.  This happens when we pray too, especially when we are praying for the lost.  We are in a war.


Doing these battles takes its own toll on those of us standing in the gap.  We get tired, depressed, weak, etc, during these times.  The Holy Spirit that resides in us as believers desires to help us through this.  He will give us strength, wisdom, understanding, and can do some simple things like making sure our needs our met during these times.  I kings 19 tells the story of how Elijah was ministered to after doing some of the Lords work.  Elijah was so depressed he wished to die, and God had an angel bring him some food to eat to help strengthen him and bring him back into balance.


We as Christians are involved in some deep struggles whether we know it or not.  We will often be asked to or feel the need to stand in the gap for others individually or as a group.   It is what we do.  Sharing the gospel and ministering is hard work and may require much of us mentally, physically, and spiritually.  We can trust that God will see us through if we are acting under His authority. 


Isaiah 26:4 Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:

Oh My People

Oh my People
Where are my people?

Down I came
From up on high
And took a walk
To find out this thing.
I walked to and fro
Hither and yonder
Visited here and there

Oh My People
Where are my people?

I stopped at a building
That bore my name.
I sat quietly in the back pew
Just watching
They spoke
They sung
They prayed
Not a one greeted me.
Several I visited
All the same
I slipped out
And no one noticed.

Oh my people
Where are my people?

I went to a mall
And stood on the balcony watching
People running to and fro
Concerned about mateial possessions
Not a one gave a
To another passing soul
Scampering about
Bags in hand
Chasing after things
That matter not
I walked away
And no one noticed

Oh my people
Where are my people?

I went downtown
And walked amongst the towers
So Cold
Business suits bustling
Chasing mammon
Deadlines to meet
Deals to be
Each looking past
Their fellow man
Sirens blaring
Horns beeping
I walked away
And no one noticed

Oh my people
Where are my people?

I sat down
In the city park
I must have looked
Down and lonely
A grizzled old man
Pushing a shopping cart
Stopped and gave me greeting
And sat down with me
We talked of life
We talked of death
He shared with me
His only food
I walked away
And he blessed me

Oh my people
There are my people.

I walked along 
The city street
Near dusk by
And getting cold
A man walked up
And greeted me
He asked me how I was
And if I needed help
I walked with him
Nearly two miles
I was fed
Given a bed
And an offer for some clothes
In the morn I walked away
And was blessed

                                             Oh my people
                                        There are my people

Pain

One of the things that we can be most assured of in this life is that at one point or another we are going to feel some pain.  Pain, in its various forms, is a part of the fallen nature that we endure in this life.  It comes as a part of the decay process that was set off when Adam and Eve first decided to go against Gods words.  Whether the pain is physical, or mental, we are not going to escape some.


Sometimes the pain is so intense that it blots out everything else.  All we feel is the pain.  It blinds us, makes us deaf, keeps us from eating or sleeping...  the entire universe can be swallowed up by one pain.  When we are in that much pain, there is only the moment.  There is only the pain.  We see no future and have forgotten all past.  We plead and beg for the pain to end.  We can feel helpless and hopeless because we are seemingly powerless against the pain and its affects.


Times of great pain can be revealing to us.  Our reactions to pain are bare and raw.  They are who we truly are.  Pain lays bare our heart.  Think about the last time you were in great pain...  how did you react? 


One person who knew about pain was Job.  Job had just about every type of pain imaginable dropped on him all at once.  He lost all of his possessions and wealth, lost his family, lost his health.  His wife turned on him and his friends accused him of sin.  What was Job's  reaction to all of this?  Job 1:21 And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.  Job, being a man of God, turned to God and blessed God.


For a believer, that should be our reaction.  We should always turn to God.  We should when we are healthy too, but that is another lesson.  I spent a good deal of time last night praising God...  amidst a horrible tooth ache.  Oh, those are so nasty.  In the worst of the pain when the world is brought down to one simple element, praise to the Lord will carry you through.  It puts God first and the pain second. 


We may not always know the reasons behind the pain.  god may not reveal that to us.  Also, he may choose to let pain be a companion in our lives as He did with Paul.  We don't know his "thorn in the flesh", but I can assume that it was not always pleasant for Paul to ask for healing 3 times.


Pain humbles us and reminds us of who we are, and that we have an end to this life.  We can have assurance that any pain we feel now is only temporary, for those who are in Christ Jesus.  Pain will be forever for those who are not.  In Christ we are promised a day where there will be no more pain. 

Revelation 21:4
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.


If you are in pain; turn to Jesus.  I'm not promising you a healing, but a hope.  Those who have believed on Jesus Christ as the son of the living god, who died for our sins and was resurrected on the third day defeating death and ascending up into heaven to be at the right hand of god interceding for us always, will have the hope of a day to come when there will be no more pain of any kind.  This hope will carry you through not just your pain today, but will carry you into an eternity free of pain.

Dear Diary

I was walking along, minding my own business, when all of a sudden something caught my eye that seemed out of place.  Indeed it was something that was out of place.  It was some sort of binder that had gotten left behind by someone.  Forgetting that I had been minding my own business I began investigating the object.


The outside was covered with doodles and band names and such.  There were little flowers and puppy dogs and the like drawn randomly around.  It seemed pretty obvious that this belonged to a teenage girl.  Upon holding the item, it appeared to be extra heavy to one side.  Feeling around it seemed like a small book size.  I was thinking maybe something like an ipad; something of value.  I probably needed to find if there was some sort of lost and found nearby, or some sort of official place for this to go.  Curiosity got the best of me though and I thought I had better look inside to confirm my suspicions and see if there was any sort of identification that would reconnect this lost item with its owner. 


I unzipped the zipper and opened up the binder thing.  Sitting there staring at me was a little red book with silver edged pages titled with big bold letters....  My Life. 


Ok, so what would you do?  Of course I totally abandon the "minding my own business" and opened up the book and found myself reading the diary of a teenage girl.  For some reason I felt a little giddy about the possible entertainment I might come across.  Stories of puppy love?  Perhaps a little juicy gossip about a cheerleader?  Or how boring the history teacher was?  That is not what I found.


On the first page I opened to, I began reading about a friend of this girl...  how she had been bullied by others in the school...  how she had committed suicide because of the bullying.   I began reading about the pain and confusion of this girl trying to figure out why bullies could be so mean to drive someone to kill themselves.  I read of the loneliness and emptiness this girl felt by her friends absence, and the anger at those who could not leave her friend alone. 


I closed the book.  I could not read any more.  I cursed myself for having let my curiosity get the best of me, and cursed the bullies who could cause so much hurt to others.  I said a silent prayer for the girl who wrote out her feelings there, never expecting that anyone besides herself would ever read those words. 


It hit me hard too because I could relate to this story.  I was once a victim of bullies, and their relentless attacks.  It ruined my middle school years all the way until late my sophomore year.  I hated going to school to have to face it every day.  No one seemed to understand.  No one was there to support me.  Day after day, the jokes, the pranks, the physical abuse....  I did not think it would ever end.  That is where that girl was who committed suicide. 


I wish for her that someone had known.  If there had been someone who would have helped her through, helped her to feel loved, helped her to feel she was not alone.  Did her parents know?  Or did they just seem to pile on top of it?  Did her friends know?  Or did they just seem dismissive?  Did anyone try to share the love of Christ with her?  For me those were all no's as I went through my own private hell.  She could not take it anymore and snapped, ending her life.  I snapped too, but lashed out on the bully.


We need to watch out for others.  We never know what a person is going through.  We will never know if a kind word or gesture in a given moment could be a life saver.  We never know if showing and sharing the love of Jesus might at a moment be preventing another suicide.  If you see bullying say something.  Don't be afraid to step up and defend the person being bullied.  It is never cool to call people names, or belittle them, or abuse them in any way.  It is evil. 


Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. 
Love others in the same way Christ loved us, putting them first, and ourselves last.
Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, only that which will lift others up.
Don't be selfish.  If someone has a need, meet it if you can.  If they are hungry, feed them.  Thirsty? Give them a drink.  Need clothes?  give and share. 
Love is patient, kind.  It is not jealous.  It does not boast of self, or brag.  It does not act badly, nor is it selfish.  It is not easily provoked.  Love thinks no evil nor has fun in doing wrong, but instead rejoices in truth.  It bears all, believes all, hopes all, endures all.  Love never fails.
Those are all scriptures and are bully beaters.  Do good to those who use and abuse you.  Let God take your vengeance, for it is His.  Pray for the bullies.


How is that possible?  You don't know what they have done to me?  Maybe not, but there is one who does.  His name is Jesus.  He was bullied, beaten, abused, mocked, made fun of, and chased away.  And He was God.  He could have at any time called down legions of angels to stop others.  He did not though.  He still loved those who hated him without a cause.  Jesus had done no wrong to anyone, but was hated so much he was put to death.  He did this to save you.  He knows just what you are going through.  Believe on Him and you will be saved.  Trust in Him and He will enable you, through His spirit, to be able to be obedient to loving your enemies and doing good to those who persecute you.  And you have His promise that you will never be alone for He will never leave you nor forsake you.
 

Dietary Reaping and Sowing

Galatians 6:7

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

Normally when we think of this verse, we think of people who have done some very bad things.  I see this verse often used with adulterers, or thieves, or some other such obvious criminal or sinful behavior.  This is a principle that goes far beyond just the obvious though and can be very subtle.  Even things that don’t seem so bad can have consequences that are quite negative that sneak up on a person. 

 

One of these things is our diet.  We hear all the time about what we are supposed to eat, but we are bombarded with what we can eat.  For the Bible believer one reads about what to eat and what not to eat in the scriptures, but tells himself that it no longer applies.  We are free from the law and can eat whatever we want to eat as long as we eat it by faith.  I’ve heard that.  I’ve even said it myself a time or two.  We are not as free as one would think though, when it comes to dietary law or principles found in scripture.  We reap consequences from eating unclean things.

Food today is far removed from the food people used to consume even 100 years ago.  It is processed with all sorts of chemicals that are foreign to the natural state of the food.  We even create foods today that do not occur naturally.  All of these unnaturally processed and unnaturally generated foods were not designed to work in the nourishment and strengthening of our body.  The intent may be there, but our bodies were not designed to function with these unnatural items.  

 

Many people today have a McDonalds and microwave diet.  They are in a hurry and just are thinking of filling the belly while they are on the run to do something else.  They are not thinking about the food, what is in it, how it was made, or what it might do to them.  Just fill the gut and run.  We as a people are reaping the results of that in record obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, and many other maladies that is related to the food we eat.  I am not immune myself and am reaping some high blood pressure as a result of years of eating non-foods.

Many of the foods we eat today are not designed to keep the body running so much as they are designed to keep us buying a particular product.  I read an article once that a company researched that best configuration of a sugar molecule that would be the most appealing to people so they could cram their product with it and subconsciously get people addicted to the product.  Repeat sales is the name of the food business.  
 

In recent years, companies like Monsanto and others have even been making unnatural combinations of foods in a laboratory, genetically altering plants and animals in ways that could never occur naturally or even with selective breeding.  They have cornered our market with their unnatural foods that other places in the world will not even allow into their countries.  No studies have been done to see what effects these foods might have on humans.  Looking at the rises in various diseases that were once rare gives at least a clue.


I am going to meet what I have sown by putting my trust in the Lord.  In the Bible is outlines a diet that is good.  God would not order a diet that was bad for us.  God wants the best for us so I am (finally) going to trust Him on His word and learn to eat the way God intended us, and had ordered his chosen people to eat.  Going by the reaping and sowing principle God set, I expect that this change to cure me of my high blood pressure and take care of most any other malady that I may have as a result of poor nutrition.  Forgive me Father for not recognizing this sooner

Dealing in Debt

There is a crushing weight weighing on the backs of every man woman and child in this country.  A weight so heavy that it has the potential to destroy us and our way of life.  It is a burden we loaded onto ourselves, voluntarily, both privately and publicly.  That heavy burden that we shoulder is debt.

If we look at our relationship with debt over the years, that relationship can be closely tied with the movement of the Christian faith from our public and private lives.  The Baby boom generation was the first in the nations history grown up (or saw it removed) without Bibles in school, prayer in school.  Without those Biblical guidelines being taught and even rejected, that generation became a me first generation, a generation where self gratification became the most important thing.

That generation enjoyed the good life, buying things on credit and paying for it later.  They unionized and got grand benefits and fabulous retirement plans.  Meanwhile, in Washington, that generation took power and began to spend.  Entitlements grew and expanded.  Bureaucracies increased since they felt they knew best how to do things (going back to the me attitude).  There never seemed to be a problem since they were all prospering tremendously.

We are now at a point where all of the greed and self interest is coming home to roost.  The lavish lifestyles our parents enjoyed was at the current generations expense and we are left to deal with the aftermath.  My generation is the first in the nations history that is not more prosperous than the previous.  Why?  Because they spent all the money and now we have to pay the price.

Had we not moved away from those Biblical principles, we would not be in the situation we are in.  What are those principles?  Many are probably unaware of them since they are no longer taught in any public venue. 

 Romans 13:8    Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.

Sounds simple enough, but is it practical in today's World?  Can one live not owing anything?  Sure, if you are willing to live with a simple car that runs, not the new Mustang convertible.  Sure, if you can be content in a smaller dwelling, not that 5000 sq ft mini mansion.  Sure, if you can be happy with tube steak (hot dogs) rather than filet Mignon.  It is a matter of learning to differentiate between needs and wants.  We need a car, but we want the Mustang.  We need shelter, but we want the fancy house.

"The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower becomes the lender's slave" (Proverbs 22:7)

Ain't that the truth.  When we owe money (car loans, mortgages) we are forced to continue to work to pay those debts off.  We are bound by those agreements and our freedom to do things is hampered.  When we sign a mortgage, we are basically signing our life away, enslaving ourselves for the next 30 years in order to finally at the end of our days (if we live that long) own a small piece of land.  We must always hold a job and continue working.  We have to take the abuse the job gives us because we know, to lose the job is to lose the house.

This works on a national level too.  Most of our debt is held by the Chinese.  If they really wanted us to do something, just the mere threat of calling in the loans is enough to make us comply as it would make our money valueless and destroy our economy (and thus our world strength).  Of course, it is already diminished with the fact that they hold this power over us.

"A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children" (Proverbs 13:22)

What inheritance have we been given?  A debt which needs to be repaid and a lifestyle that is diminished because of it.  Is the 'greatest generation' so great in light of this scripture? How can we leave something for future generations if we have spent money like a drunken sailor and not stored away our resources for the future generations to partake in?

"The wise man saves for the future, but the foolish man spends whatever he gets" (Proverbs 21:20)

"Steady plodding brings prosperity" (Proverbs 21:5)

In this last generation of me first get it now pay later attitude, we have not followed this Godly principle.  It is hard work and dedication, attention to detail, being patient and waiting that allows for true wealth to grow.  Getting it now sucks away not just the money spent, but all the added interest further decreases potential wealth.  We need to learn again to look at the big picture and down the road and not be so hung up on having to have that 'thing' right now.

We in this country are going to have to make sacrifices, starting right now.  We have to be willing to give up all the perks and benefits.  We have to be willing to give up the entitlement programs.  We have to be willing to buckle down and be content with a little rather than a lot.  If we as individuals people and a nation are unwilling to make the future better for our children and our children's children, we will have for them nothing to give.
1 Timothy 5:8

But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.

I Confess

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.  All glory to you Lord.  May all praise and honor be directed to you, Lord.  I say this Lord but I must confess to you; I have not done this as I ought to have.  I have fallen short, Lord.  Forgive me.  In your word, Deuteronomy 4:4-9 says Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. These things I ought to have been doing, and have not.


And we know that this saying is not just for the house of Israel either, but for all who call you Lord, for you say in Hosea 2:23 And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.  And restate it in Romans, 9:22-26 ²² What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.


Forgive me for not having you in mine heart always.  So often I let the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things enter in, choking the word, and it becometh unfruitful (Mark 4:19). I get wrapped up in my worries about work, or my bills, or things that I need (or think I need).   I get focused on the task at hand and forget to invite you in on those tasks.  I’m sorry, Lord.  Help me to change. 


You have not blessed me with children Lord, but you have placed people in my life.  Have I been diligent, that is, made great and serious effort to share and teach of you to them?  Here too have I fallen short.  Would some people even know that I have you for my God?  Do they hear me speak of you when I walk along the way?  Do I speak of thee in the morning and at night?  Help me to be more bold, Lord, to speak they word to others and more diligent in sharing Your good news.   At one time this may not have been the issue, but it is now.  Forgive me.


Father, it should be when people think of me, they see me with a bible in my hand; they think of me as having one vision, that being of you Lord.  They should see the evidence of my faith in my posessions.  Are the pictures on my wall making people immediately think of you if they should see them?  The books on my bookshelves?  The songs on my mp3 player?  The movies in my DVD collection?  The files on my computer?  All of these things and more should reflect you, Lord.  Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, (2 Corinthians 6:17)  Forgive me Lord that I may be too much like the world.  Strengthen me and embolden me to come out and be an example of your ways, not the worlds.


In Jesus name I pray, Amen 


1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.